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04 February, 2011

ISLAMABAD: Rich colours and meaningful expressions in the new artworks of Abdul Jabbar Gul takes one into a spiritual journey of serenity leading towards the path to self-realization. The painting exhibition titled ‘Self Absorption’ was opened on Thursday evening at Khaas gallery, Islamabad.

According to the artist, Abdul Jabbar Gul “We all live in two worlds, the physical world that we see with our open eyes and the other one is inner world which we see when our eyes are closed.” In physical world, we speak in order to communicate while in inner world we remain quite to interact and the human faces in the paintings of Gul seem quiet and still as if they are in deep meditation, trying to achieve the ultimate goal of spirituality being completely absorbed in their own selves.

Religious symbolism is evident in few of the art pieces that include symbols of different religion such as Cross, Star of David, Swastika, Star and crescent combined together portraying religious harmony and coexistence. “I have a special interest in religious study and exploring different religions I examined spirituality, Sufism and the diversity of different sects” informed the artist while talking to Pakistan Observer.

“The paintings give a strong spiritual message of peace and harmony which is the need of the time” said Zishan Afzal Khan, the curator of the gallery.

The urge for self expression motivated the artist to work for the new collection which is spiritually affluent as well as rich in colours. A major source of inspiration for Abdul Jabbar Gul is the human form which he describes as the most important phenomenon of the universe. The exhibition includes 15 paintings of the eminent sculptor and painter Abdul Jabbar Gul who has used oil on canvas to depict the inner world of peace.

Imran Hunzai, an artist visiting the exhibition expresses that “the moment you look at the paintings, you realize that this is the work of Sir Abdul Jabbar Gul which speaks for itself.” Each artwork takes one into a different world of peace of serenity, Hunzai added.